Power supply to Gaza cut as fuel runs low

Published on Sunday 6 January 2008 20:51

LIVING conditions in the besieged Gaza Strip became even harsher yesterday as a shortage of diesel fuel forced authorities to initiate a cut In electricity supplies for eight hours a day.

One and a half million residents will be affected by the cuts, which authorities said were necessary because of Israeli restrictions on the supply of diesel that began in October.

Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups alike consider the reductions a collective punishment in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Israel claims that, with other military and political steps, fuel and electricity cuts are "legitimate self-defence" in the face of continued rocket firing from the Strip into southern Israel.

Half of the 34,000 residents in the northern town of Beit Hanoun were last night plunged into darkness, according to its mayor, Mohammed Kafarneh. He added that, since October, power had been cut for two hours every morning, but starting yesterday had been cut for eight hours at 4pm.

"All institutions are affected. Shop owners who have goods in refrigeration are affected," he said. "It is examination period for the pupils, but they cannot study because there is no light."

Earlier, four Palestinians, including at least two civilians, were killed and dozens wounded during the latest Israeli incursion into the Strip.

A 17-year-old died after being shot in the chest by Israeli forces near Bureij refugee camp.

An airstrike on a house east of Bureij killed a 34-year-old woman and a member of the Hamas armed wing, reports from the Strip said. A fourth man was killed by a tank shell last night. Five soldiers were hurt by an anti-tank missile fired at their vehicles, the army said.